Carley Fortune says she understood why Every Year After shifted a key timeline point from her book Every Summer After—so the TV version can show Sam being confronted with Percy’s past alongside his grief.
When Every Year After premiered on Prime Video, one moment from Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After didn’t land on the page at the same time. The change isn’t about what happens—it’s about when it’s revealed.
In the series. Sadie Soverall’s character Percy returns to Barry’s Bay after learning that her ex Sam’s (Matt Cornett) mother died. Viewers then learn that Percy was once intimate with Sam’s brother Charlie (Michael Bradway). In Fortune’s book, though, Sam figures that out before Percy actually returns.
Fortune isn’t upset about the adjustment. Speaking to Us Weekly on Wednesday (June 10), she said she could understand the move from showrunner Amy B. Harris’s point of view and that she didn’t push back when she read it.
“I can tell you from [showrunner] Amy [B. Harris]‘ point of view why the change was made and why it’s something that I didn’t push back against it when I read it,” Fortune said.
She pointed to what the original emotional beat was doing in the book. When Fortune wrote the confrontation scene between Sam and Percy. she realized Sam had been “known for such a long time. ” and she described it as “heartbreaking and beautiful and sad” that so many years had passed—years that also gave Sam time to wrestle with the truth.
In the show, the timing is different. Sam only learns about Percy and Charlie in the present, at the same time he’s processing the news about his mother. Fortune said Harris’s goal was specifically about what audiences can feel in real time on television.
“The important to Amy was showing Sam’s response to that news,” Fortune said. “You want to see things on TV. You want to see him be confronted with this.”
She added that the show will extend that confrontation into the future. “For a second season, we are going to be with Sam while he’s still grappling with this information,” Fortune said. “I think that that just makes for good on-screen drama.”
Every Year After is now streaming on Prime Video.
Carley Fortune Every Year After Every Summer After Prime Video Amazon adaptation Amy B. Harris Sadie Soverall Matt Cornett Michael Bradway Sam Percy Charlie Barry’s Bay
So basically they just changed when someone finds out something? I dunno why people are acting like it’s a big deal.
I feel like if they moved the timeline point, it changes the whole vibe. Like in the book he finds out earlier right? That’s kinda important?? Prime drama needs to stop messing with the emotion lol.
Wait I thought Percy was the one who did the grieving part, not Sam. Like I’m lost, they’re saying Sam gets confronted in the present but then it’s also like, years later? Prime shows always confusing, honestly.
Idk, I read “didn’t land on the page at the same time” and automatically assumed it was censorship or something. But I guess it’s just timing for TV reactions? Still feels weird though, like the book hits different for a reason. If season 2 is more confrontation, cool I guess, but I hope they don’t drag it out.